Chapter 145 The Course of History

Zhang Jincheng had come to Liaodong to seek military glory by defeating the enemy. Now, standing right before the battle lines of the two armies, manpower was desperately needed. Since Li Dong had already been enfeoffed as an official of the third rank, how could he be abruptly reassigned halfway to escort grain and provisions? Zhang Jincheng gave a flat refusal, telling Li Dong that he would not go.

Li Dong was well aware of the true intentions behind Emperor Yang Guang’s arrangements, but he could not reveal them entirely. As the emperor, tasks assigned by Yang Guang had to be executed unconditionally. If Zhang Jincheng stubbornly refused to go, Li Dong would have no choice but to undertake the mission himself.

Once Li Dong left, it would inevitably affect the overall strategy for attacking Goguryeo. While Li Dong felt a slight dissatisfaction toward Zhang Jincheng, he remained extremely amiable, patiently explaining the situation countless times. Yet Zhang Jincheng stubbornly clung to his original stance.

Later, Dou Jiande and Qin Qiong also tried to help Li Dong persuade him, but he still refused to listen to reason.

Finally, Li Dong’s temper flared. With a metallic clang, he drew the meteoric iron treasured sword from his scabbard, glaring with wide, angry eyes, and shouted: "On the ramparts of Liaodong, this precious sword drank deeply of the enemy's blood. It possesses another extremely crucial purpose that my brothers may not yet fully understand—and that is to execute everyone who dares to obstruct the path ahead! Even if one is my own sworn brother Li Dong, no mercy will be shown!"

Li Dong's hardline attitude provoked a rebellious streak in Zhang Jincheng. Taking half a step back, he drew his own weapon as well, and shouted coldly: "Zhang Jincheng was not frightened into submission as a child!"

Seeing that the two sworn brothers were about to come to blows right then and there, how could Dou Jiande, Liu Heizha, and Qin Qiong allow them to actually fight? They hurriedly pulled the two apart and offered soothing words of persuasion.

Dou Jiande pulled Zhang Jincheng away and advised him, "Young Brother Li Dong is acting upon an imperial decree; this must be the will of the Holy One, and Heaven’s will cannot be defied. Just agree to it."

Zhang Jincheng retorted, "He has only just assumed his post, yet he already turns his blade against his brothers. What kind of outrageous acts might he commit in the future? A brother like this is not worth making!"

Dou Jiande was momentarily stunned. He hastily replied, "You cannot speak of it that way. Even a husband and wife sleeping on the same pillow sometimes quarrel and fight, let alone two grown men? Both of you have hot blood in your veins and wish to pursue your ideals according to your own hearts, but how can that ever work? Someone must always give, and someone must receive, isn't that so?"

"Why must the one who gives be me and not him?" Zhang Jincheng asked with lingering resentment.

"Just a moment ago, the five of us brothers unanimously agreed to follow his instructions, didn't we? He also agreed to petition the Holy One on our behalf to bestow glory and titles upon us. Once this task is well accomplished, won't it be a great merit? You must understand his good intentions!" Dou Jiande proved himself worthy of his commanding talent, and his skill in persuading others was truly top-notch.

Qin Qiong persuaded Li Dong from an entirely different perspective. One need not be overly contentious in all things; now that their status had changed, they had to be mindful of propriety. They must never flare up lightly, as it would leave people with the impression that they were aloof, arrogant, and unreasonable.

Li Dong was still filled with lingering indignation as he said, "This is an exceptionally fine mission. The army has not yet moved, but the grain and provisions must go first. Grain and fodder are tied to the life and death of millions of garrison troops. Such a monumental and wonderful matter—I asked him to go so that he could curry favor before the Holy One. Not only does he fail to understand my sincere intentions, but he even wants to raise his weapon against me! A brother like this is simply not worth keeping!"

Qin Qiong smiled and said, "Iron will not be straight unless it is beaten, and a tree will grow crooked if it is not pruned. If these principles are not spoken aloud, how can one ever understand them? You must explain the reasoning clearly to him."

Upon careful reflection, Li Dong realized that his own behavior just now had indeed been excessive. Assigning Zhang Jincheng to escort the grain was tied to the critical question of whether they could keep Li Yuan in check and compel him to raise the banner of the Great Tang at a later date. Because such a weighty issue could not be spoken of plainly, a sudden burst of anger had led him to make a mistake.

Li Dong pondered: If this matter had fallen upon Li Yuan, how would he have handled it? From the moment Li Yuan met him, clearly knowing that Li Dong looked strikingly similar to someone he was familiar with, Li Yuan had never casually revealed it to him. Viewed from this angle, Li Yuan possessed profound depth and immense patience; he would never act as rashly as Li Dong had, and would surely choose a better option and method. Looking at the present moment, the gap between himself and Li Yuan was not just a little bit—it was the distance of the Great Wall. From now on, he must never lose his temper lightly; he needed the patience of a blacksmith forging iron, the magnanimity to accommodate others, and an unfathomable depth of character.

And so, after Dou Jiande successfully persuaded Zhang Jincheng and Qin Qiong successfully persuaded Li Dong, the two brothers shook hands and made peace with blushing faces. Zhang Jincheng also agreed to Li Dong’s arrangement, accepted the imperial decree, and set off to search for Li Yuan.

Filled with deep shame, Li Dong chatted idly with Dou Jiande, Qin Qiong, and the others for a little while longer before returning to Yang Guang’s side to report on his mission. Omitting the details of the dispute between the two brothers, he simply stated that Zhang Jincheng had happily accepted the decree and assumed his post.

Once the matter of grain and provisions was settled, Yang Guang ordered the twenty-four grand armies to perform their respective duties and attack different cities from various directions. Stimulated by Li Dong’s lavish rewards and encouraged by specially minted copper coins, the morale of the Great Sui soldiers soared. With the courage to lift mountains and rivers, a hundred armies captured nine enemy cities in succession.

The Sui garrison troops were unstoppable, and the enemy fled at the mere sight of them, collapsing into utter disarray. Every time a city was conquered, a general and a large troop of garrison soldiers were left behind to guard it, reducing the number of mobile garrison troops along the way by more than half a million.

Nearly a month later, the Sui army advanced right under the walls of Pyongyang, the capital of Goguryeo. Half a million Sui garrison troops surrounded Pyongyang so tightly that it was sealed like an iron bucket, not even allowing a single bird to fly through.

At this point, the generals were divided into two opinions and two distinct camps. One faction advocated surrounding the city without attacking, forcing Gao Yuan to come out and surrender. The other faction advocated striking while the iron was hot, capturing Pyongyang by storm, and taking Gao Yuan alive.

Goguryeo had long been terrified out of its wits by the momentum of the Great Sui. For several consecutive days, the city gates remained tightly shut, with no one coming out to give battle.

Emperor Yang of Sui’s original plan was that as long as Goguryeo was willing to surrender, he would cease attacking and accept their surrender. However, because Li Dong had appeared out of nowhere and altered his original perspective, Yang Guang decided to issue the order to attack the city the very next day.

After learning that the Sui army would attack the city tomorrow, Li Dong weighed things over and over in his mind: which strategy—fighting or making peace—was truly the most appropriate?

Accepting Goguryeo’s surrender would resolve the immediate predicament of both sides. Gao Yuan would still retain a capital city to defend, but one could not rule out the possibility that once the Sui soldiers retreated, Gao Yuan would recuperate, gather his strength, turn his back on them once more, break with the Great Sui, and repeat the blunders of history.

If that happened, Yang Guang would inevitably fly into a raging fury and launch a second expeditionary campaign to attack Gao Yuan. The vicious cycle of taxing the people and wasting wealth would become an unavoidable historical trap. Therefore, the condition of Goguryeo's surrender could not be easily accepted.

If the Sui launched a relentless assault, it would not take long—at most a month—before the city was entirely blockaded, cutting off all supplies of food and clothing. Once Goguryeo could no longer withstand the might of the garrison troops, their nation would be completely eradicated and uprooted by the roots.

Destroying a nation was a good thing; it would alter the original trajectory of history, enabling the Great Sui to free up sufficient force to suppress the various rebelling peasant insurgencies. And the Great Sui might truly, just as Yang Guang anticipated, maintain eternal vitality, ruling over its imperial foundation for thousands of generations.

However, once Goguryeo was conquered, who would garrison this vast and fertile land? This was also a crucial opportunity—an opportunity that would influence the new course of history.